Hello! I read The Beck Diet Solution a few years ago and it really helped me. I would love to be a part of this support group! I will find my book and begin reading again. Is there also another (newer) book now? If so, I will get that as well. I remember that the principles in the book were very practical and useful, but I definitely need a refresher course, as I am currently struggling ~ but determined ~ in my weight loss journey!

To FutureFitChick: I am so very sorry about your gorgeous pup!!! We, too, had to put our precious Golden Retriever down this past Saturday, so I am grieving her loss right now. I had the same experience with vacuuming up all of the golden pet hair on our family room carpet. It was sad to see it disappear and know that it would never return. :-( Thankfully, we have two other dogs to love, but it doesn't make the loss of our Golden any easier. We will see our precious pups again one day, I believe!!! That is my hope and my prayer. Anyway, I feel your pain and send you a big hug! Hang in there!

I intend to participate in the group after I read through the messages and get back in the groove of the book again. Looking forward to "meeting" all of you and exchanging support along the way! I see that some of you are already maintainers. That is so awesome and an inspiration to me!

How did you happen to find out about the books by Dr. Judith Beck?
And how did you find this Beck Forum on the 3 Fat Chicks site?

A friend of my son's (they're both 20) talked me to me Friday night about her weight loss journey (235 down to 150 right now). She had the sleeve procedure and raves about it. But it's been less than a year--so it's hard to stay how she'll feel about it 5 or 10 or 30 years from now. But it got me researching weight loss surgery on-line, and I found myself in the same place I was the last time I researched it--the risks are too high for me--and that I couldn't imagine changing my eating habits forever. I'm afraid I'd be one of those who kept eating a bit too much until I gained it back, stretching my stomach back out again.

But the research had a real plus--it made me really think about the health aspects I have to deal with--diabetes, high cholesterol, not getting around as well as I want to. One of the links led me to 3FC--I'm not even quite sure what search got me here.

I've had really good successes with cognitive behavior therapy for personal issues--incredible, fantastic, unbelievably wonderful successes. So, I thought that perhaps there might be some tools I could use to reframe how I think about food and how to teach myself to make better choices. It also seemed that 3FC could be a support group that would "keep me going", just as an exercise partner would.

I actually googled "cognitive approach to weight loss" and came up with the books. My issue isn't that I don't know how to change my eating habits--I do. My issue is that I make choices that I know aren't good for me. For the last month or two, I've been telling myself that after the first of the year, I was going to figure out why I'm consistently doing things that are bad for my health.

When I started perusing the 3FC site, I came across the Beck forum and decided to jump in--I'm not a very good lurker (and I'm pretty wordy).

Welcome, IBelieve! I like your positive name and avatar! Good reminders for the new year for us all!

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your Golden this weekend - that has to be so tough. I saved a tuft of hair from each of the pets I've lost (cats). Not sure WHY, but it was important to me then, and I still have them. Hope your other dogs are doing okay despite the loss of their fellow pooch?

I'm still trying to work my way through the first (?) book - the Diet Solution... so I look forward to see if there are others I should check out/pick up that are very helpful, too.

__________________
Started the Fast Metabolism Diet mid-Aug ... Ladybug for good luck!

Thank you so much for the kind words regarding the loss of my pup. Your support means a lot to me.

I am posting right now to take my mid off of the 2nd snack item that I have been thinking about for the last 1/2 hour. I don't need it. I am stressed from work and still emotional (and worn out) from this weekend. It is really difficult for me to focus on work right now, which is incredibly frustrating. Oh well! I will make it through.

BeverlyJoy, thanks for the hugs! Hope you are having a good day! That is wonderful news that your back is improving! Your soup for sickies is a reminder that on NYE when I was sick I planned on making extra and freezing it in case of emergency. (I haven't done that yet.)

Lexxiss, thank you for thinking of me! I'm so glad you have a fur-friend too! Great job sticking to the plan in spite of the family stress. Hang in there.

NationalParker, thanks for the poem. That is a really sweet image. I told my pup to say "hi" to our other pets, my grandparents, aunts, and dad too. Sounds silly, but pup always did work better when she had a mission to focus on! Bummer about the booby-trapped office snacks. Great time to practice resistance! Sorry to hear about difficulties with DH's daughter. Hope you can see a light at the end of the tunnel for those behaviors in her.

MaryAnn, your intensive weeks sound jam-packed! Wow! Great job for hanging in there and bonding with coffee and not food. That is fantastic!

BethfromDayton, welcome to the group! This is a great bunch of people and I look forward to getting to know you.

GardenerJoy, thanks for your kind thoughts. Congratulations on making it through the holidays! On an unrelated topic, I know you have done NaNoWriMo a couple of times. What things were key to making it possible for you with your very busy life?

NatureGirl, your after school walk beats the pants off of the cornfields that surround me. So jealous!! Your plan sounds awesome.

IBelieveinMe2, welcome! This is a great group! I am pretty sure Beck Diet for Life is the newer book. But, the content is supposed to be very similar to BDS with the incorporation of an eating plan. I am so sorry to read about your loss this weekend. What a terrible way to start the year. Our dog was our last pet (she is the 6th to die of long-term illness in as many years), so the house is really quiet. I look forward to getting to know you!

BillBlueEyes, thanks for sharing about your Aussie. I hope your rehab is going smoothly! Great job on avoiding more cookies.

__________________

Things I'm Most Looking Forward To:
More E-N-E-R-G-Y
Buying stylish, not oversized clothes
Being a healthy role-model for my nephews, students, and godson
Horsebackriding without guilt

Woke up and thought I needed to try something else before I spent more money right now--so no Bikram yoga for now--BUT.... I have made the decision to begin exercising again and I dusted off the wii fit games and found Gold's Gym 2. I put it in and now I have trainer Alfredo leading me to health and happiness. I'm committing to following the program for one month and we'll see where I am at after that. I did tell Alfredo to really work me out. After the forst workout today I was nice and sweaty and my heartrate was up there--a tad too much--but it's nice for a change. *credit for planned exercise* I also walked over to the mall to mail off some stuff and then had to pick up snacks for the potters' guild meeting tonight. I do the snacks this evening with another member. *credit for the spontaneous exercise*

I continue to do the dishes. *credit* Another sinkload done. Happy to have clean serving dishes to bring with me this evening for the snacks. Bonus

Found out our drawing group is accepted for a one week residency on Toronto Island during March. I think it might be jured but you pay for the privilege, but not very much. I am excited to be going away, even if it is only 20mi to the south. At least I will be on an island, albeit, not tropical. O well.
*credit for getting a successful application out there and for asking for what we want*

I am going to make some new advantage cards. I haven't done that in a looonnnggg time and it's been longer still since I actually read them every day. I need to really get this stuff ingrained in me more and more and I need to do the card thng.

*credit* for making a Dr. appt to get my bp prescription refilled. I always leave it until I am down to one or two. I loathe taking them. I loathe it even mroe to actually see the Dr and have him take my bp. I am upset, however, that this time round I am no thinner/do not weigh less than the last time I was in there. I expect a lecture and an admonishment to do a *real* followup appt gven the results of a bloodtest I had done about a month ago.
Oh well. *credit* again for wading into the murkey medical morass.

*credit* as well for deciding to write a poem. There is a deadline. There is a subject. There is a prize for the winner and the 5 runners up. I have felt the urge to write very strongly the last year and I am going to answer it in this one small way. I find this is giving me great joy. *credit* for being on the lookout for the things that keep me happy.

futurefatchick I appreciate what you went through with your beloved dog. I have been there several times. We do all we can and when we can't there is just simply nothing left to do but to ease their suffering. Such a horrible choice for us to make but if you truly love your pet, you willingly, lovingly do it. How fortunate you were, and how fortunate your dog was, to have been with you.

I told someone today about how effective it was for me to make a rule "No eating in the car." And, then, went out and ate in the car. Sigh. Whatever I used to get from it, though, I don't get anymore. So, I'll consider it a failed experiment and move on. At least the calories were a wash, the same as the snack I would have had at home but with fewer nutrients.

FutureFitChick: I didn't manage to do NaNoWriMo in 2012, but, in retrospect, I kind of wish I had. The thing that I thought I had to do instead didn't work out all that well, anyway. It's possible to do with no planning, but I've enjoyed it more the years that I put some thought into it ahead of time -- coming up with characters and world building and plotting ideas. All very loose and subject to change as soon as I get started. We have an active community in the St. Louis area so I like to go to the write-ins. They aren't necessarily my most productive hours but part of why I like doing it is the camaraderie with other writers. Chris Baty's book (No Plot? No Problem!) is good, but get it from the library because you won't need to read it twice. Once you get into it, you can write pretty fast. I'd guess most people average 2 hours a day or less and take it from the time they would normally spend watching TV and goofing off on Facebook.
I just made a plan for 2013 and one of my big things for October is plotting and the only thing I've written for November is NaNoWriMo. My calendar won't stay that clear, but it's nice looking at it right now.

Really tired tonight but promised myself I would post--and told you all about it so how could I skip ?!
First day back with 17 kinderkids was tiring but successful; ate on plan at work, resisted 6th grade teacher's birthday cake, didn't stop at the store on the way home. Credit, credit, credit! Roasted beets & chicken, whole wheat couscous & yogurt sauce for din--all superfoods so credit again. Messed around in beautiful sunshine after work so just finished shoulder exercises now (credit) and I'm ready for my jammies and last few pages of my novel.FutureFitChick: typing to keep from eating - good idea--whatever it takes!!Onebyone: you go, girl with the wii fit workouts. Gardenerjoy: doesn't it always happen that we end up --oops, I was going to say "eating our words" regarding your experience with the 'No eating in the car' situation. Isn't it interesting how so many of our metaphors, figures of speech, euphemisms, etc are related to food

Another screwy day which thankfully did not include overeating. I've weighed (down again) and am so grateful to be finding myself back in the post-holiday groove. Several positives:
~I am noticing that my meals have slowed down another notch. I keep forgetting to mention but notice that my hubby is finished with his dinner sometimes before I even have two bites.
~I am actively working on a new "work" food plan since I had become bored with the old. Yesterdays creative salad was very satisfying and I was able to resist the box of donuts that showed up. Yay! It seems the junk situation at work isn't changing so I had better change myself.

BBE, I love when you mention the "factory made" foods. It is just such a powerful reminder to me. Yay for resisting especially recognizing you weren't hungry yet have the tendency not to see that as relevant. I relate.

nationalparker, great that your breakfast and lunch were already packed even though you managed to grab something else. Credit for effort and I'll bet you grab the right thing next time.

Beverlyjoy, great job on the soup! It seems that lots of people benefitted from your resourcefulness! Glad to hear you are feeling better, too.

IBelieveInMe2, glad you are joining us, especially after losing your precious pup. It's the positive thing you can do for yourself right now and I look forward to sharing in your journey

bethFromDayton, welcome! Nice to hear you have had other successes with cognitive behavior therapy and that you're motivated to jump right in. Kudos to you for recognizing that a "procedure" would not be in your best interest and doing the footwork to find what would be a better match for you. (PS-I came to the same conclusion myself)

FutureFitChick, credit for posting here instead of having your second snack. When the donuts were calling out at work yesterday I committed that I would post here before taking one and just the intention seemed to work.

onebyone, yay for rationalizing your bikram and deciding to just get moving at home. Lots of credits yesterday! Yippee!!

gardenerjoy, have to say I laughed out loud reading your post. When I was having the European pastry struggle last week I kept remembering your rule...oh well, Huh?

NatureGirl, thanks for such a great posting challenge! We will benefit as we get to interact more...a win win situation. I've been wanting to make roasted beets .perhaps I will plan for tonight!

Diet Coaches/Buddies  The physical therapist manipulated my ankle to make the step down exercise work better. Said he was loosening up a bone group that was still tight. It really worked - the first time I've experience PT magic. I walked out not wearing my ankle support after three weeks - it's now just for stressful situations. Walked directly to my gym for a cardio session (without the ankle support) and my weights. CREDIT moi for exercise. The front desk had a box of spilling out individually wrapped Fair-Trade 65% dark chocolates - so tempting since they were FREE and Fair-Trade meant good things. I didn't take one, CREDIT moi.

Eating had an exceptionally good part when I sat for two hours in front of some yummy looking scones without grabbing one - CREDIT moi. Ignoring them made ignoring the factory made chocolate chip cookies easy. But then my attitude was skewed and I had several servings of a raisin/dried cranberry mix that wasn't necessary - Ouch. Food was otherwise on plan. It was a good day.

onebyone  Super Kudos for taking on the poem to keep your creative juices flowing and your life moving forward. And Kudos for going to the doctor despite all the negative baggage you gotta fight through to get there.

Joy (gardenerjoy)  Yay for the plan that "October is plotting" - sounds delightfully nefarious. Thanks for demonstrating that an event can be declared a failed experiment and moving on.

Debbie (Lexxiss)  Kudos for recognizing the need for a new plan for eating at work. Donuts just aren't necessary as recreation.

Nature Girl  Shuddering at the thought of the energy exploding from "17 kinderkids" back from vacation. Yep, Kudos for doing your shoulder exercises - it's so good for me to know that you're plugging forward with your PT also.

nationalparker  Thanks for the demonstration of a superb CBT strategy by sending an email when feeling the urge toward the kitchen. And Kudos also for recognizing that chocolatiers will exist in your future. What a great day.

Beth (bethFromDayton)  It's neat to have someone on board who's been successful with cognitive behavior therapy. I love the straight forward notion that the goal is to make better choices - rather than to 'fix' something that's broken. That's the notion that makes CBT so appealing to me.

IBelieveInMe2  Yep, Beck has a second book, The Complete Beck diet for life (the green book). You can read a review of both books here. My take is that you'd do well to continue with the pink book for this cycle. The next time you feel the need for refresher, the green book is available for a fresh perspective on the same material. "Determined" is such a sound foundation for success. Sending supportive thoughts as you process the loss of your Golden Retriever. Glad that you've joined us.

Readers -

Quote:

chapter 2What Really Makes You Eat

beyond hunger

Many people wo struggle to lose weight think they're hungry when they're not....There are differences between hunger and other sensations that masquerade as hunger. The Beck Diet Solution shows you how to differentiate between the triggers described below so that you can make appropriate decisions about eating.Hunger: You experience an empty sensation in your stomach, which is often accompanied by stomach rumblings.Thirst: You feel a dry sensation in your mouth when you have a need to take in liquid.Desire: You want to eat because of another trigger (frequently environmental), even if you've just eaten.Cravings: You have a strong urge to eat a certain kind of food, which is accompanied by tension and an unpleasant yearning sensation in your mouth, throat, or body.

Good morning! This week seems incredibly long already, and it's only Tuesday morning. Didn't get much sleep last night - I know that's a factor. I hate to rush time. I know there are loads of people in hospitals, sitting beside a loved one who only has a little time left, and it's selfish of me to wish some of it away.

My hairdryer was blowing blue sparks this morning - shut that down. Car wouldn't start - took quite a while for it to 'catch' (my highly technical term) and start. It was only 20 and had been in the garage, so it SHOULD have started easier. I'll go out at lunch and start it up again so it doesn't sit the whole day. Hoping my computer doesn't flop on me.

We walked the trail again early evening with our dog. It was getting icy with a bit of meltoff ... saw a few deer, which is always such a treat for me. I see that as a reward for getting out there.

Came back home and made dinner - played a word game with DH forever it seemed, and had a lazy night - hot bubble bath + space heater = happy camper.

Picked the Beck's book up again and on Day 25 - Identify Sabotaging Thoughts. Apparently I'm good at that So if I can not only identify them, but also deal with them, this could be major.

Getting tired of the never-ending food in the kitchen areas at work. Today it's more popcorn - cheese, caramel, butter, and yogurt/choc (?) covered pretzels, regular pretzels, the list goes on. This doesn't tempt me until someone walks by with a bowl of the cheese one. I DON'T NEED IT. Thanks, FutureFitChick!!!

Will try to get back on with personals at lunch. Your posts are so helpful to me.

__________________
Started the Fast Metabolism Diet mid-Aug ... Ladybug for good luck!

Hello Everyone! Thank you all for the very warm welcomes to the group! I appreciate it!

BillBlueEyes: I think I just found The Beck Diet Solution and TBDS Weight Loss Workbook while looking through diet self-help books at my local bookstore. The subtitle "train your brain to think like a thin person" was right up my alley! I have been a fan of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for a long time. I pulled both books back out and will be rereading them and doing the exercises in the workbook again. I also (prior to reading your post) already ordered The Complete Beck Diet for Life, so I will be reading it as well. I am a huge fan of self-help books, because I figure if I can learn just one valuable lesson from each, it is worth the purchase and read. I have learned so much about myself from self-help books. They were my lifeline during a difficult period of my life. I have come a long way, but ~ evidenced by my weight ~ still have a long way to go. I am very much into analyzing my thoughts, feelings, and behavior, but need to remember to also focus on following through with behavioral changes as well. I am hopeful that the Beck books and this group will help me along my journey, and I am anxious to support the others in the group as well. I found the Beck group on 3FC by just searching through the forum groups/titles after I joined 3FC (which appeared in my google search for weight loss support; had seen the group before, but decided to join this time). Have all of you already read the books and/or where are you in the discussion of the books? I want to jump right in ASAP! Now, I am off to revisit my pink Beck books. I am thankful for the opportunity to begin again and hopefully make this a lifestyle change this time around!

Keeping myself busy with some busy-work this morning. I hope now I can focus and get some writing done. Dealing with post-migraine-med flakiness too, so that is no help.

I ended up eating an extra snack yesterday. Oh, well. I can just focus on today and be better! I tried to make a chocolate drink with spinach hidden in it, but ended up also including wooden splinters of formerly-a-spoon. Oops! I made my fabulous red Kitchen Aid blender very angry and I hope it will forgive me after I run the pitcher through the dishwasher for safety.

Food today has been 100% OP and I am going to hold out on my afternoon snack as long as possible (or split it in half) so I won't run in to the post-dinner hungries with nothing left to eat.

OneByOne, great job on all of those credits! Keep up on the exercise. Another benefit of the Wii is that you never get snowed out of getting to the gym this way!

GardenerJoy, eating in the car after telling someone you don't eat in the car is hilarious because that is SO something I would do! Oh, well. I like the failed experiment notion. Thanks for the info on NaNoWriMo. I am trying to get my dissertation done this semester and have lots of writing to do, so I was just looking for your success ideas. I have been tossing around the idea of putting together a writing retreat, but am nervous that planning and executing such an event would take away from my actual writing. Thanks so much for sharing!

NatureGirl, great job with posting and all of your other credits. The rest of the world that can't handle doing what you do are very grateful to you for teaching!

Lexxiss, great job for making your Plan B in spite of the work junk food!

NationalParker, hang on in the midst of the work-kitchen junk. Maybe you could try not leaving your desk until you have a clear vision of what you will be getting out of the kitchen? I hope your bad tech karma has cleared up as well.

IBelieveInMe2, your notes about the benefit of self-help books definitely rang true for me. And, follow-through is absolutely an issue that becomes a problem after I finish whatever book I am reading and put it down. As far as the discussion of the books, we all kind of work at our own pace through them. BillBlueEyes always includes a "lesson" from the book with each of his daily posts. Then we all just kind of post what things we are doing to be in accordance with the Beck plan and what things might be challenges to us today (or were so yesterday). Post personals when you can. The active group waxes and wanes so the number of personals on a daily basis is rarely the same from one day to the next. So, if there get to be too many people to respond to personally, do what you can or feel inspired to do.

__________________

Things I'm Most Looking Forward To:
More E-N-E-R-G-Y
Buying stylish, not oversized clothes
Being a healthy role-model for my nephews, students, and godson
Horsebackriding without guilt

I am on an email listing from Dr. Beck's dietprogram@beckinstitute.org and today's email points out that we should never assume we'll get back on track LATER - it might take a few days, few weeks, a month, a year or more to actually get back to our healthy eating habits after a slip... it goes on to say:

If you were walking down a flight of stairs and stumbled down a few, would you think, "Well, I've really blown it now!" and throw yourself down the rest?

If you were washing your fine china and dropped a plate, would you throw the rest of your plates on the floor?

If you were driving on the highway and missed your exit, would you continue to drive 5 more hours in the wrong direction?

I loved these - as one time I had a WW leader who asked us out of the blue what we'd do if we stumbled getting out of bed - would we lay there the rest of the day? Of course not but it was a great visual for me, as are these.

__________________
Started the Fast Metabolism Diet mid-Aug ... Ladybug for good luck!

Folks - checking in. Yesterday was a healthy day.... always grateful for that! I completed many of my goals: plan/measure/weigh food, lots of water, weighed (down a tich), exercise, read advantages, did my journal work, always left a bite of food on my plate, took three deep breaths before each meal, and ate slower a few times. Many credits!

I had to switch out my dinner when DH really wanted grilled cheese and tomato soup. I could make it work within my plan. Credit. It was fine.

WELCOME!Ibelieveinme - So glad you posted. Folks here are supportive, friendly and helpful.

Hoping you are all having a great day.

__________________ Move ticker, move!
Next Mini Goal - 214

"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it." - Margaret Thatcher

I can't lose 100 pounds....but, just maybe I can lose five pounds twenty times.